18 naxalites were killed after the police officials were tipped-off about the presence of naxalites from the area.

Hyderabad, Oct 24: In a major operation, the Andhra Pradesh police have killed 18 naxalites in an encounter. The encounter took place on the Andhra-Odisha border. The operation was carried out by the elite Greyhounds and the Andhra Police.

Security forces seized 4 AK-47s and 2 self loading rifles. 2 INSAS have also been recovered following the encounter. The encounter took place at the Bejjangi area in Malkangiri district of Odisha in the early hours of Monday.

This area has been a concern due to the rise in the activity of naxalites. According to Superintendent of Police, Rahul Dev Sharma, there were few top commanders who were killed in the encounter. "It is being ascertained," he informed.

The operation was conducted after a tip-off regarding the movement and presence of a large number of naxalites in the area.

The team was well prepared to execute this operation and inflicted heavy casualties on the naxalites. Two security personnel have been injured in the attack and are currently being attended to at a hospital.

It may be recalled that a similar operation had taken place on September 2013. In that encounter, 13 top leaders of the banned CPI(Maoists) were killed.